![]() ![]() No matter which of the composting methods you choose, remember smaller materials break down more quickly. Some people like to add soil between the layers, but we’ll talk more about the benefits of adding soil later. The dry material will help prevent the green materials from clumping together and creating noxious odors ( 2). Then, every time you add your kitchen scraps or other wet materials, make sure you add your brown too. If you are planning on adding to your pile rather than building it all in one go, start with about a foot of green and brown material in equal parts to get it going. You want to keep repeating the process- six inches of brown then six inches of green until the pile is complete. Then add six inches of green material on top. Once you have at least three inches of branches, add another three inches of dry brown material like leaves or pine needles. These branches allow airflow, which is necessary for aerobic composting. Start by layering some large branches at the bottom. Let’s say you are building a 3’X3’X3’ compost bin. ![]() So, what do you do? Another tip for fast composting is to layer your brown and green materials as you go. Compost heaps work, but they are just slow. Rather than just chucking all your compostable materials willy-nilly in a compost heap, you should give some thought to how you build your pile. But don’t get discouraged! With time, you can achieve the correct ratio for hot compost. It may take some work to find the proper balance in your pile. Properly balanced compost piles will give off a pleasant earthy smell, and you can feel the heat. If you have ever done cold composting, you know you are always asking, “ how long does it take to make compost?” On the other hand, if you have lots of dry woody material that is carbon-heavy, you will struggle to get the heat you need for rapid compost. While your compost will still break down quickly, you are losing precious nutrients. You can fix that by adding more brown material, like dry leaves, shredded paper, or even sawdust, to help get the pile back in balance. If you add too much green material like kitchen waste to your pile, you might notice an ammonia smell. Keeping that balance is essential so your compost doesn’t slow down or, even worse, start to smell. This heat lets you know your composting is working. When you achieve the proper balance, your compost pile will start to heat up. Picking up the best kitchen compost bin will make it more convenient to bring the greens to the compost pile. (Thank God! This is gardening, not chemistry).ĭry leaves, woody prunings, pine needles, sawdust, corn stalks, and even paper are carbon-rich materials, AKA browns.īy adding equal parts green and brown material, you can approximate the proper carbon-nitrogen ratio. While that may sound complicated, don’t let all this carbon-nitrogen talk scare you away – making compost is easy! You don’t have to download any charts with nitrogen and carbon values on them or do any math. According to the Berkeley Compost Method, which allows you to make compost in as quickly as two to three weeks, you should have a 30/1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen in your mix ( 1). One great way to speed up compost is to make sure your pile has the correct carbon-nitrogen ratio of compost materials. ![]()
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